O'Neill-Class Ship

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Asgard O'Neill-Class Ship

Summary

The O'Neill-Class ship is the name for the Asgard ship first seen in 4.01 "Small Victories Part 2". It is the first Asgard ship designed to fight the Replicators, and is the most advanced ship of its time. It is named for Jack O'Neill of the SGC, for his actions in assisting the Asgard war against the Replicators (3.22 "Nemesis Part 1").

Class Background

Before the O'Neill-class vessel, the primary Asgard spacecraft was the Beliskner-class. As the Beliskner-class is the subject of several Jaffa legends, it is likely extremely old and has not changed radically in thousands of years. As the Asgard are pretty much the defacto most advanced race in the known galaxies (with the Ancients removed from this plane of existance and the Ori in an extremely remote galaxy, this logic still stands), the Asgard were probably not caring to keep their ship on the cutting edge of technology, or it could be that Asgard genius lies within other fields of study. (Genetics or high-energy physics, given their cloning and beaming technologies, could be much more refined than starships.) (1.10 "Thor's Hammer")

However, the Asgard opened a Pandora's box when they beamed aboard one of their vessels Replicator blocks. The Replicators consumed the technology of the Asgard vessel, and became vastly powerful. Combined with the knowledge of the civilization that produced the Replicators (suggested later on to be Ancient-based), as well as other races' ships that could have been captured, the Replicator's grew militarily stronger than the Asgard. It eventually grew to such a disparity that five Asgard ships could be destroyed by three Replicator vessels without the Replicator's sustaining significant damage. (3.22 "Nemesis Part 1", 4.01 "Small Victories Part 2")

As Asgard vessels were defeated and the race was being pushed further and further back to its homeworld, the Asgard devised a new starship to bring the fight to them. As Thor explained, it was the first Asgard vessel designed solely to combat the Replicators. The prototype vessel, the O'Neill, was only partially finished when it seemed the Replicators would mount an attack on the Asgard homeworld, an attack from which the Asgard could not defend. Only the "primitive" ideas of Maj. Carter saved the Asgard homeworld of Hala. And while the prototype O'Neill was destroyed, the Asgard built finished models of its design and used them as the primary warships of the Asgard fleet, supplanting the previous Beliskner-class ships as exploration vessels. At least six were built, with a likelihood of a service run in the dozens, if not more. (8.01 "New Order Part 1")

Technical Details

As Thor explained to Maj. Carter, the O'Neill-class was the first purpose-built warship designed to combat the growing threat of the replicators. Therefore, it would be highly likely that the O'Neill-class defenses are designed for maximum effectiveness against Replicator blocks and weaponry, and the weapons are designed to specifically overwhelm Replicator armor and shields. Since the destruction of all known Replicators, it can be presumed that these vessels have been retasked to perform as more general warships or outfitted for more exploratory means.

The O'Neill-class shares the same Asgard aesthetics towards ship design as other contemporary Asgard starships. Smooth, curving lines, parallel sets of projections and Norse imagery are all part of the O'Neill design. The ship's hull is built of a white/steel gray material, described by Thor as an alloy of carbon, naquadah, and trinium. It is also described as the strongest material the Asgard are capable of building. The alloy's composition is not known for certain, but it could be conjectured to be more trinium than naquadah, as the metal is white/steel gray, not black. The ship is shaped somewhat like the Beliskner-class, only with a curved, forward bulging "head", unlike the hammer design of the Beliskner-class. As well, the rear of the ship houses two engines with visible glowing thrusters, which separates it from the Jackson- and Beliskner-classes. However, they are almost identically sized to the Beliskner-class, perhaps a few meters smaller if at all.

For the effectiveness of the O'Neill-class in combat, the ability of the Asgard to turn the war around is proof enough. At the inception of the O'Neill-class, the Asgard were nearly beaten back to Hala, engaging the Replicators in an attempt to stall for time. The Asgard survived four more years of engagements with the Replicators after this battle. Thor mentioned that nearly every aspect of Asgard shipbuilding and technology had been advanced for this ship. However, it seems that, eventually, the Replicators captured an O'Neill-class, and the playing field leveled once again.

Even designed as being an anti-Replicator warship, the O'Neill-class could still match Goa'uld vessels in combat. Even with the Ancient technology upgraded ha'taks of Anubis, normally capable of matching, if not exceeding the normal Beliskner-class, whereas upon the arrival of O'Neill-class vessels, Anubis immediately escaped into hyperspace without even attempting to fire. It should also be said, that when Anubis's vessels faced the Beliskner-class, they had a numerical superiority (one Beliskner to two ha'taks), however, when the O'Neills showed up, the superiority was reversed (three O'Neills to one ha'tak). (5.22 "Revelations")

Defensively, the O'Neill-class is armored in the strongest alloy the Asgard are capable of making, not to mention the shielding systems of a ship designed to defend against the most powerful Replicator warships. The vessel's shields are white tinted, in a bubble configuration around the hull.

The O'Neill-class ships could later take hits from the Ori Warships, quite possibly the most powerful warships in all known galaxies. Previous to the Ori invasion, the Asgard shields had never been known to have failed, but after surviving multiple strikes by four Ori Warships, it appeared that the only O'Neill-class ship present in the firstwave invasion was eventually destroyed. (9.20 "Camelot Part 2", 10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

The O'Neill-class vessels appear to be very maneuverable, capable of aking high speed turns and dog fighting style tactics. This capability allowed the ship to last further in the battle against the superior Ori warships than Goa'uld ha'tak or Earth's Daedalus-class ships. Earth's Odyssey was the sole surviving ship from the battle only because the Ori did not wish to destroy all of the allied fleet so that the message of their superior power could be spread. (9.20 "Camelot Part 2", 10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

Known O'Neill-Class Vessels

  • Unnamed, commanded by Thor before the Daniel Jackson (6.12 "Unnatural Selection")
  • Valhalla, commanded by Aegir (5.22 "Revelations", 8.02 "New Order Part 2")
  • Two Unnamed, commanded by Aegir (5.22 "Revelations")
  • Six Unnamed, commander unknown (called into defense of Orilla) (8.02 "New Order Part 1")
  • One Unnamed, commanded by Kvasir (9.20 "Camelot Part 2")

Stargate References

The prototype of the O'Neill-class, the O'Neill, was shown to Carter on Hala. While not finished yet, the craft still had the capacity to fly in hyperspace and under remote operation. The craft was used to lure the three approaching Replicator warships into hyperspace to take them out with the O'Neill's self-destruct. (4.01 "Small Victories Part 2")

Three O'Neill-class vessels defended an Asgard research facility, intending to stop Anubis's Ancient technology upgraded ha'taks from destroying the facility, and with it, the fate of the Asgard race. (5.22 "Revelations")

Thor commanded an O'Neill-class vessel which saved the Prometheus on her maiden flight. Thor's vessel later towed the Prometheus back to Earth, and then to the Ida galaxy, only taking one hour to transit between the galaxies, carrying the massive Tau'ri spacecraft. (6.12 "Unnatural Selection")

Six O'Neill-class vessels were pressed into service to defend Orilla as a massive Replicator ship, entirely composed of Replicator blocks, was headed to attack the planet. As the Replicator vessel's speed and such were known, it was predicted the exact moment it would come out of hyperspace, where the Asgard attacked it before the defenses of the Replicator ship could be raised. This tactic was successful, but the destruction of the Replicator ship rained blocks down upon Orilla, beginning the invasion in any case. (8.01 "New Order Part 1")

An O'Neill-class vessel, commanded by Kvasir, was present at the incursion of the Ori at P3Y-229. Kvasir transported himself to the Odyssey, explained what the Sangreal was capable of, and created crystals in an attempt to dial out the Supergate before the Ori could dial in. This attempt was unsuccessful, and four Ori ships came through. Kvasir's O'Neill-class vessel was later seen strafing the Ori warships, sustaining fire but its shields holding. The weapons of the O'Neill-class were unsuccessful in penetrating Ori shields and eventually, even the Asgard's finest ship was destroyed. (9.20 "Camelot Part 2", 10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

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Article written for Solutions by Jordan Kreiger
--DeeKayP 11:01, 4 March 2006 (PST)

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